This invention relates to gas and electric kitchen ranges having an improved construction which reduces the temperature of the range side panels, and particularly the temperature of localized hot spots in the side panels.
Gas and electric kitchen ranges have to comply with a number of different safety codes established by Underwriters Laboratory. One of these is UL 858 which establishes a maximum side panel temperature for the range. Since kitchen ranges are usually "built in", with cabinets or other appliances closely adjacent to and often in contact with the side panels, if the side panel gets too hot, there is a danger of fire. During a self-cleaning cycle, the temperatures within the oven in the range can become quite high and can approach 900.degree. F. This is the operating mode of the range which is most critical in terms of side panel temperature, and the range must be designed so that the side panel temperature does not exceed the allowable maximum during self-cleaning. Normally, this is accomplished by designing the range such that the oven cavity is spaced from the side panels, typically by three to four inches, and covered with a blanket of insulation, typically two to two and a half inches thick, so as to leave an air gap between the side panels and the insulation.
In current commercially available ranges, the side panel temperature during the self-cleaning cycle is the limiting design factor for the width of the oven cavity. During a self-cleaning cycle, the surface temperature of the insulation close to the front panel flange of the oven may be as high as 400.degree. F., and the air gap helps to reduce heat transferred into the side panels by providing a limited amount of convective cooling.
In instances where the range is installed with its sides flush against kitchen cabinets, substantially the only means of heat removal is a flow of air entering the side panel air gap from the bottom of the range and exiting from under the cooktop. The air gap geometry is known to have an effect on temperatures evidenced at the side panels.
Air gaps in currently available ranges may comprise merely the space between the side panels and the range intervals, including the oven cavity insulation. In other instances, the air gap is well defined by making the entire side panel double walled, the two walls defining the air gap. The top of these air gaps open either directly into the space beneath the cook top, or into slots cut in the spillover pans or "birdbaths" disposed beneath the burners.
Although conventional range designs are capable of maintaining side panel temperatures within acceptable limits during self-cleaning, several disadvantages are present. It is common, for example, to find localized high temperature regions, or hot spots, in the side panels, where the temperature may exceed the temperature of other regions of the side panels by as much as 40.degree. F. Typically, these hot spots are located in the upper regions of the side panels adjacent to the front of the range. Also, the necessity of spacing the oven cavity from the side panels sufficiently to maintain the side panel temperature below an acceptable maximum temperature limits the size of the oven cavity which can be used in a standard 30 inch side range.
One approach to reducing the temperature of the localized high temperature regions is found in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 166,949, filed Mar. 11, 1988, entitled "Method and Apparatus for Reducing Side Panel Hot Spots in a Kitchen Range" and assigned to the assignee of the present application. As described in that application, thermal conduction breaks at the front face of the side panel and on the inner surface of the oven door act to inhibit the conductive transfer of heat from these areas to the upper side portion of the side panel. This approach improves the temperature distribution on the side panel, however, and need continues to exist in the industry to further reduce temperatures at the side panel hot spot regions, and particularly the region at the upper front part of the panel.
It is also desirable in making kitchen range side panels to use lighter gauges (thickness) of steel, however, such lighter gauges are generally susceptible to denting and deformation without further means of reinforcement.
It is therefore an important object of the present invention to provide a side panel assembly for a kitchen range having enhanced thermal performance in that hot spot temperature differentials are reduced.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a kitchen range side panel assembly which offers improved structural rigidity combined with improved thermal performance in eliminating elevated temperature regions.